Labour – The Orbital

30Jul

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Features

Debrief: Abby King

I first met Abby in a café on campus many months ago during winter term. Naturally, after exchanging pleasantries, our conversation jumped to Labour Party politics and our mutual interests. It’s a similar scenario that plays out today, as we sit in the same café and discuss the next phase of our activism and catch up with life. The weather is brighter this time, and the drinks are much colder. Actually, this is not strictly true- they ran out of ice, so we are stuck with lukewarm coffees. A lot can change in a few months, though. Abby is running to be a Labour Party Councillor of Englefield Green West. A Councillor is elected to represent a party (or independent) in a local council - it’s a good way to be involved in local politics and engage with issues that impact your immediate communi...

Does Any Political Party Really Care About Young People?

28Feb

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Opinion

Does Any Political Party Really Care About Young People?

Danny Angove laments the lack of youth-centric and inclusive politics Life’s full of disappointments, isn’t it? Imagine: you’ve been forced to endure a long, hard day of lectures and seminars, so you decide to treat yourself to a night in with your housemates, junk food, and one of your favourite films. You hit the shops, but they’ve run out of ice cream. When you get home, you find that the film you want to watch isn’t on Netflix. One of your housemates bails on you to go to the SU; he eventually stumbles in at 2am, and vomits all over the kitchen floor. You’re tired, you’re stressed, and your floor is sticky from VK-tinged vomit. The night is an unmitigated disaster. This is, in short, how I feel about the Labour Party. When Jeremy Corbyn was elected to lead Labour, I was ...

The Breath of Fresh Air with the Beard In Charge of Labour

27Sep

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Opinion

The Breath of Fresh Air with the Beard In Charge of Labour

Why should we love Jeremy Corbyn? Why should this man, this beard and beige adorning, allotment attending man, be greeted with our adoration? To answer this, we should examine the political sphere currently in place. A growing resentment towards politicians resonates amongst nearly all of us, and why? Despite strong words, big gestures and emphatic lip service given by politicians, Britain suffers from a limp lack of alternatives. Many critics of Ed Miliband’s Labour party state that it was his lack of radical alternatives to the Conservatives that lost him the election. On issues such as Europe he remained as silent as the grave, a decision that lead to as much for his career. Regarding the housing issue he was vague, nondescript and insufficient. We regard our political scene with ...

19Sep

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Opinion

A New Dawn has broken, has it not?

Tony Blair spoke the words ‘A New Dawn has broken, has it not?’ May 2nd 1997 in the early hours of the morning represented a break from 18 years of opposition. Furthermore a break from Conservative rule which turned a social democratic country into a country of yuppies, privatisation and strikes. However most importantly this represented a new style and agenda for the Labour Party following the disunity of Bennites, moderates and the gang of the four and the formation of the Social Democratic Party in 1981. This may be ancient history in political terms as Harold Wilson once remarked that ‘a week is a long time in politics’ but once again a new dawn has broken in the Labour Party. This ‘new dawn’ is different in many respects to the ‘new dawn’ Blair promised as instead of a move towards t...